Health humanities is an emerging, interdisciplinary field that connects medicine, health sciences, arts, humanities and social sciences. Encompassing fields such as literature, narrative medicine, history of medicine, philosophy and ethics, medical anthropology, medical sociology, environment and health, art, visual culture, health design and communications, drama, music and much more, health humanities is concerned with human needs related to healthcare and the practice of medicine.

The InSight: Visualizing Health Humanities exhibition explores how we can visually translate and communicate knowledge from diverse work in the health humanities in ways that are innovative, engaging and accessible. Thirty-two entries from students, faculty, staff, and alumni in more than twenty faculties or units will be displayed or performed in or near the Fine Arts Building Gallery. These visual, sound and performance explorations share a space that both occupies and transcends a single gallery, providing insights into the evolving story of health humanities at the University of Alberta, as well as opportunities to build further connections and support future collaborations.

Building on the success of our first exhibition project, we have expanded our exploration to include a broader range of perspectives. InSight2: Engaging the Health Humanities is an international exhibition featuring work from 36 exhibitors as well as this publication (both profiled on a dedicated website: insight2.healthhumanities.ca), a two-day symposium, and a collaborative course project that brings together learners in design and the health sciences. All of this offers frameworks for examining linkages, experiences, visualizations and productive imaginings at the nexus of design, health humanities, and the community. Through this interconnected set of projects, we offer an opportunity to open up an expansive, exploratory conversation regarding how we can intentionally engage design and the health humanities, and work collaboratively across disciplines and communities, to create innovative and transformative processes, products, services and experiences that can help to promote health and well-being across specific local and also global contexts.